A Las Vegas Municipal Court judge on Wednesday threw out a case against a California man who was cited in August under a new ordinance that bars the public from feeding homeless people in city parks.

In dismissing the misdemeanor case against Patrick Band, Judge George Assad said the ordinance was unconstitutional because it was vague and denied equal protection of the law.

The city attorney's office said it filed an appeal of the decision Thursday morning.

Allen Lichtenstein, general counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, filed a federal lawsuit in August asking a judge to declare the ordinance unconstitutional. He said Assad's ruling supports his assertion that the ordinance is just that.

"There is absolutely no justification and no basis for marshals, police or anyone else to be arresting or citing people based on this law that a Las Vegas judge has ruled unconstitutional," Lichtenstein said.

WHO, in their right minds, would pass this kind of hateful ordinance? With all the many problems in the world, WHAT was the pressing need for banning charitable citizens from helping those less fortunate than them? I am constantly amazed at how Govt--at all levels--thinks it can micro-manage us.

I had my suspicions on the why's and so searched for some more articles on the subject. It was as I suspected. The city just doesn't like the looks of it plain and simple. Sort of reminds me of the movie "Pleasantville" Guess if they can't see the homeless people then in their minds they don't exist.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/28/us/28 ... yt&emc=rss

There are homeless people who congregate in a park near where I live. I will say that they can APPEAR threatening, at times, but I've never had a dangerous encounter with any of them. Sure, they'll ask for money, but its their right, isn't it? Some give, some don't! Big deal.

Oh, no offense taken, jobot! Like I said, they can APPEAR threatening, but they are just different people than the average American deals with. I still see no good reason to sweep them under the rug. If anything, I think this congregation of homeless acts as an in-your-face reminder that not everyone is living the American dream.